When Is a Solution Not a Solution? Wicked Problems, Hybrid Solutions, and the Rhetoric of Civic Entrepreneurship

Jeffrey M. Gerding Purdue University West Lafayette ; Kyle P. Vealey West Chester University

Abstract

This article examines the ongoing development of +POOL, a recreational pool, filtration system, and floating laboratory, to better understand the rhetorical work involved in civic entrepreneurship. The authors consider how the overall development of +POOL as an entrepreneurial venture might help expand the inventive possibilities for civic entrepreneurs coming to grips with wicked problems today. The study offers a look into the rhetorical work of civic entrepreneurship by examining the way +POOL develops a hybrid solution, which recognizes and foregrounds the notion that wicked problems, such as the pollution of the East River, can never be fully understood or known at any one moment. Hybrid solutions, then, offer stable outcomes for civic entrepreneurial ventures that are dynamic enough to continually adapt to the shifting and evolving contours of a wicked problem.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2017-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651917695538
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 7 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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